Catholic Diocese of Saginaw appeals for cyclone relief

The Catholic Diocese of Saginaw is asking residents to donate toward relief and response efforts in the wake of a cyclone that devastated Myanmar last week.

Cyclone Nargis left around 60,000 dead or missing and 1 million people homeless so far in the southeast Asian nation, said officials at Catholic Relief Services, the official international relief and development agency of the U.S. Catholic Church.

Residents in the stricken region urgently need food, shelter and water, officials said.
The diocese will send contributions to Catholic Relief Services, which also is committing a large sum of money to the effort, said Terri Grierson, director of the Office of Christian Service at the Saginaw diocese.

The Baltimore-based relief agency then will send the funds to the most heavily affected areas of Myanmar as quickly as possible.

"Initially, we're responding to emergency relief, whether it's food, water, shelter, cooking utensils," Grierson said. "As relief efforts continue, it will shift toward development and rebuilding the area. In the next couple weeks, we will gauge what the response will be."

Nargis struck Myanmar overnight on May 2, causing major floods and damaging the homes of thousands. Some are estimating the death toll will hit 100,000 because many survivors are homeless and without food or water.

A major problem getting relief is the reclusive xenophobic generals who run the country fear internal uprisings, a U.S. invasion, globalization and its capacity to dilute traditional Burmese culture. In the aftermath of Saturday's cyclone, the junta appears to be afraid of losing face with its people.

After initially pleading for urgent help, the junta now seems in no rush to welcome aid workers and appears afraid of losing face with its people.

"They are more concerned with control and maintaining an omniscience in front of their people than saving lives," said said Sean Turnell, a Myanmar expert at Australia's Macquarie University.

The storm caused major damage to the Irrawaddy Delta, a densely populated rice farming region of Myanmar, also known as Burma.

"It could not have happened in a worse stretch of land," said Pat Johns, director of the Catholic Relief Services emergency response team. "With the tidal surge at 12 to 15 feet, presumably thousands of people living along the delta were simply washed away."

Grierson said the relief effort took longer than usual because of the political climate in Myanmar, whose military rulers are limiting foreign assistance. Her main goal is to promote awareness of the relief effort.

"Beyond prayers, it's the only way we have to respond to the suffering that we're seeing -- the only way we can reach out to our brothers and sisters in dire need," Grierson said.

"You see those images unfold on television, and you're moved to do something. This is one way to do something."